Stop sending military: Chicago also tries to resist Trump
Illinois and Midwestern city appeal against the federal government. The Dem governor, Pritzker: 'It's Trump's invasion'. In Oregon, a judge blocked the National Guard from entering Portland
The resistance of American states trying to stop Donald Trump and the Republican administration's deployment of military forces to attack Democrat-governed cities is spreading to Illinois.
After Oregon and California, the Midwestern state, along with the city of Chicago, also decided to appeal to block the White House's attempt to take control of the National Guard and send it to garrison neighbourhoods and streets. "The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not have to live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not because the leaders of their city and state do not fall in the president's favour," the Illinois authorities explained in filing the lawsuit against Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. The suit against the federal government was filed yesterday, just hours after Trump himself ordered hundreds of National Guard soldiers to move from Texas to Chicago for 'a federal safety and security mission'. The army had already indicated that at least 200 soldiers were on their way to Chicago.
"The Trump administration's illegal actions expose Illinois to serious and irreparable harm," said Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker. "The Republican administration's provocative and arbitrary actions have jeopardised public safety by fuelling the riots," Pritzker continued, calling the troop deployment "Trump's invasion."
Pritzker referred to the tensions caused by the presence of federal ICE agents in Chicago and its suburbs: immigration forces tear-gassed the streets without warning, broke into flats and bound residents with zip ties for hours into the night, and handcuffed a city councilwoman.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, also a Democrat, said he would issue an executive order to establish 'ice-free zones' to prohibit federal immigration agents from setting up parking areas on city property or private businesses without a warrant. "We cannot allow them to rampage through our city unchecked, if Congress," Johnson said, "doesn't rein in this administration, Chicago will.
